next »

[AnarchoElk]

There certainly is a bit of frustration, but it the good frustration. A lot of raging at missed or mistimid jumps into saws or spikes, or the side of a wall.

As for good times, you just need to grow a few more fingers, and an extra brain to process everything, and then it's not too hard.

[Dragonmaw]

I'm getting a weird graphics glitch where every sprite is rendered inside a black bounding box. Any fix?

Nevermind, read the first post addendum. I'm an idiot.

[Anthony Flack]

Well you only need three fingers, and the processing isn't too hard since you're basically trying to replicate a pre-rehearsed sequence. But trying to consistently pull off those essential three-quarter-sized jumps is another matter.

[Jockolantern]

So close but yet so far:



I can get 2'17".  I just know I can.

[godsavant]

So close but yet so far:



I can get 2'17".  I just know I can.

You've got around 24 hours.

[AnarchoElk]

Well, I've tied up 2:18
I don't think I could tie 2:17 though. It's possible, if I refined some jumps, learned better control of fans, I could get 2:17, but as it stands This is a good time I think.

I figure I'll start writing up a post, detailing my actions getting this time, and I'll post it up around midnight. I hope others will do the same, so we can share our time savers, and possibly lower the time even more though I don't know how much more is possible.

[ZenicReverie]

great game, too bad I missed out on trying to speedrun it for the contest.  I hope you're considering expanding on it in the future.

Ben Greenman, who holds speedrun worldTwinGalaxy records in Contra, Startropics 2, and Shadow of the Colossus

fixed: TG does not equate to world records, unless you consider it to be the only source for records, which is a little narrow.  Not poking Ben in particular, I just have a distaste when records are called world records and there's evidence to show there are faster records out there.  TG seems to be the worst offender in this regard.

[AnarchoElk]

I'm not counting empty halls or the window room.

Level 1:
 All about short fast jumps. can usually get early 8.
Level 2:
 Jump between the blades while they are moving right.
Level 3:
 Jump on to the yellow block then into the fan, pull back, go through. Usually get 16-17
Level 4:
 Fast jumps can make it to the blade floor before the saw hits needing a quick jump over and into the door.
Level 5:
 Quick careful jumps.
Level 6:
 All about jumping to the door as soon as possible.
Level 7:
 All about not waiting for the butterflies. Usual time 1:04
Level 8:
 Jump directly into the 2nd fan.
Level 9:
 Just timing jumps right to not wait on platforms as much, followed by a recap of the first moving platform level's jump as soon as you can.

I don't think I missed anything. This could have gotten me a 2:17 or a 2:16, but I couldn't reliably pull it all off in one go. One time, I paused on a jump a bit, and I ended up with 2:18 again. And I think that was before one of the time savers.

[Jockolantern]

Well, after nearly two hours of trying to go sub-2'18", I have finally decided to throw in the towel and let DJComet take the crown he well deserves.  Job very well done on the 2'17", good sir.  You are truly a mechanical monster to have achieved such a time.  I know how to get it but I just can't one single run so completely perfect.  I always end up mis-timing going through a door by half a second or half jumping when I should have three-quarter jumped.  I'm sure both you and Anarcho know how that goes.    

I am incredibly happy to share second place with AnarchoElk (I've never placed in a speed run before ever so this is a definite exciting first) and would like to thank Godsavant, Aski, and Flashygoodness for such an awesome little game that I had a terrific time speed running over and over again.  I never tire of the music, Flashy; it is truly, truly magnificent.  

A job very well done once more to DJComet and AnarchoElk!  We are the best, boys!  Way to go!  

[DJComet]

Hello, guys! I registered just now to post in this thread!

Congrats to everyone who entered! Even those who didn't end up placing in the end! You all did a great job and I commend those who had the patience to even get 2:20. I can't count the number of times I pressed "Q" during the course of this contest.

With my current run strategy, I believe it's possible to get 2:16 but I just got tired of trying over and over again (Jock and Anarcho, you know what I'm talking about). Flashy asked that I record my speedrun at some point but I'll have to figure out how to do that first and then be lucky enough to get it again.

I'd most likely post a detailed description of what I do on each level here in the future if anyone would be interested. If performed with little to no pausing, you could get a time of 2:16, I just got too lazy after a week of trying and trying. It gets really stressful on the Luna Ascension level, you know!

In the end, though, I'd like to thank all of those involved in making this game as great as it is. I'm no speedrunner, but this game made doing so for the first time in my life a genuinely enjoyable experience. Even just playing the game, it's a work of art that I hope is expanded on in the future.

Also, thanks for all of the kind words, but I just got lucky.

[godsavant]

Congratulations, gentlemen!  I'll try to put your tips to good use; message me with your prize requests.

[Jockolantern]

I'm no speedrunner, but this game made doing so for the first time in my life a genuinely enjoyable experience.

Good to finally hear from you, DJComet!  Yours is pretty much the same as my story.  I've never had the urge to speed run a game before I played this one and saw Godsavant was doing just such a contest for it.  Once I started and kept getting better and better times... I just couldn't stop.  And I'm with you in wondering just how many times I did press the 'Q' button over the course of my efforts.  I probably don't want to know. 

Also, thanks for all of the kind words, but I just got lucky.

Luck and skill certainly play an equal role in any speed run and Tower of Heaven is certainly no exception.  Job well done, DJ!    Congrats!

[battlerager]

Wow, great job, guys! Those times are ridiculous. 

[Anthony Flack]

I'd like to see vids of optimum times for various rooms - even if it isn't a full speed-run of the entire game. To see if I'm missing anything...

It would be nice if you could do practice speed-runs of individual rooms.

I think I have most of the time-optimisations, I just can't perform them all together. I can't get the fans to behave themselves well enough, and there's a few spots where you have to do a three-quarter sized jump and nothing else will do, which is really hard to do with any consistency.

The other issue is that at the start of the level, you usually have to press the right key to start moving (having it already held down doesn't always register). Optimally you'd want to start pressing the button as soon as the room starts to fade in (because it's "live" from the moment the fade-in starts), but there is often a random freeze of a half-second or so when the room changes that can completely cock up your timings at the start of the next one.

[gmars3yp]

Wow, absolutely fantastic! I haven't stopped by here since my last post... what a shock to see that some people were not only able to beat 2:23, but... actually get as low as 2:17 & 2:18. Incredible. Well done.

[AnarchoElk]

http://www.mediafire.com/?jjejg0jdnqe

Well, I couldn't get Windows Movie Maker to properly edit this thing into the faster runs of each level, and I ran away for a minute at the end to answer a phone, but this is for the most part, my speedrun attempts for each level fairly well. There are some jumps that could be exploited for a small boost in time(especially the fan in level 3), but this is pretty much everything I did in my run (plus the fan jumps in the first nature level were different and probably saved an extra second or so. And the first side of bricks level is faster than my held time by a second or so.)

If you added all of the final runs together there, you would probably end up with a tie for first, or a faster than first place time. The problem is just putting them all together in a single no mistake run.

Edit: Sorry for the audio, I forgot this program picks up the mic and not the game sound...
Edit2: Replaced with a smaller, shorter version without the audio, and slightly less deaths.

[DJComet]

http://www.mediafire.com/?jjejg0jdnqe

That's pretty much exactly what I did. The only thing different I see is that you jump over that last moving yellow block on Luna Ascension rather than under it, but that makes no difference time-wise.

It really is just being able to successfully put together each level's speedruns with no hesitation. That butterfly fan section being the worst to perfect.

[godsavant]

For those who have been having problems with surface drawing (i.e. "black screen of death"), I have uploaded a surface-less version in the OP download link. Just go to the .txt file and change "quality=1" to "quality=0".

[mokesmoe]

  Words seriously cannot explain how overjoyed this makes me right now:

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/1059/worldrecordtimemedium.png

HUZZAH! 

You did it wrong!
Whenever you post a picture showing your whole desktop, you have to have something embarrising  like:
"Google search: transvestite fruit por..."
in another tab or window.

[blueskirt42]

Will we ever see a full implementation of Squidi's Proclamation of God mechanic in Tower Of Heaven 2 or in a future sequel?

Also, whatever you do, tell me you'll keep the same musicians. While playing Tower Of Heaven, one second I was jumping from platform to platform, and the next I was lost in memories of countless hours lost playing Mega Man games and JRPG back when I was in high school.